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We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).

jbdigriz (8030) writes "In a stunning power grab, the FCC has extended Title II, not just to the loosely and flexibly defined "broadband" market, but to the Internet as a whole, wired and wireless, including even interconnects, making ISPs common carriers of telecom services, with the possible exception of dial-up providers (dunno, haven't seen the order yet). The commission voted also to override state law in NC and TN to remove restrictions on community broadband. Ars Technica has more info here. Lawyers, start filing. I'm sure the upshot will not be enshrinement of incumbents, of course. Or "openness" as defined by Fairness Committees of "Stake Holders." Right, suckers."

My mental model of CPUs is stuck in the 1980s: basically boxes that do arithmetic, logic, bit twiddling and shifting, and loading and storing things in memory. I’m vaguely aware of various newer developments like vector instructions (SIMD) and the idea that newer CPUs have support for virtualization (though I have no idea what that means in practice).

An article by Dan Luu answers this question and provides a good overview of various cool tricks modern CPUs can perform. The slightly older presentation Compiler++ by Jim Radigan also gives some insight on how C++ translates to modern instruction sets."

For trying to steal some of the IT spotlight on Linux, but you'll never dampen our GNU spirit--largely because this vulnerability isn't really a big deal and most of us who use it are educated enough to know that.

Went and read the article (hey, someone on slashdot had to put up the $15). Anyway, at the end they had participants see if they could correctly guess the shape, and about 90% of them could. The haptic field produced here is no where near strong enough to stop or hinder hand movement.
I imagine that the closest sensation to this in real life would be running your hand under a balloon and feeling the shape by how your hand hairs respond.

itwbennett (1594911) writes "The allure of mobile devices has led Intel to take some uncharacteristic moves, partnering with Chinese companies to build some smartphone and tablet chips, and relying on third parties to manufacture those chips. Intel is betting the partnerships will accelerate its business in China, where smartphone shipments are booming. But the company wants to regain complete control over manufacturing, and on Thursday said it was investing $1.6 billion over 15 years in a China plant for mobile chip development and manufacturing."Link to Original Source

Hallie Siegel (2948665) writes "Robotic weapons, whether autonomous or remote controlled, have generated widespread controversy in recent years.Alex Leveringhaus, author of a recent Oxford Martin School policy paper titled Robo-Wars: The Regulation of Robotic Weapons discusses the ethics of autonomous weapons, urges governments to recognise the increasing prominence of these weapons in contemporary and future forms of warfare, and proposes steps towards suitable regulation. This article is part of a series on regulating robotics."Link to Original Source

Lucas123 (935744) writes "While NASA's Orion spacecraft, which blasted off on a successful test flight today, may be preparing for a first-of-its-kind mission to carry astronauts to Mars and other deep-space missions, the technology inside of it is no where near leading edge. In fact, its computers and its processors are 12 years old — making them ancient in tech years. The spacecraft, according to one NASA engineer, is built to be rugged and reliable in the face of G forces, massive amounts of radiation and the other rigors of space."Compared to the [Intel] Core i5 in your laptop, it's much slower — much less powerful. It's probably not any faster than your smartphone," Matt Lemke, NASA's deputy manager for Orion's avionics, power and software team, told Computerworld. Lemke said the spacecraft was built to be rugged and reliable — not necessarily smart. That's why there are two flight computers. Orion's main computer was built by Honeywell as a flight computer originally for Boeing's 787 jet airliner."Link to Original Source

mrspoonsi (2955715) writes "Old laptop batteries still have enough life in them to power homes in slums, researchers have said. An IBM study analysed a sample of discarded batteries and found 70% had enough power to keep an LED light on more than four hours a day for a year. Researchers said using discarded batteries is cheaper than existing power options, and also helps deal with the mounting e-waste problem. The concept was trialled in the Indian city of Bangalore this year. The adapted power packs are expected to prove popular with street vendors, who are not on the electric grid, as well as poor families living in slums. The IBM team created what they called an UrJar — a device that uses lithium-ion cells from the old batteries to power low-energy DC devices, such as a light. The researchers are aiming to help the approximately 400 million people in India who are off grid."

is there absolutely ANY reason this should be posted on slashdot? MSNBC, sure, but for a technical and nerdy news, why do I even care what his preference is? Shame on you slashdot--stay away from sensationalist media before we lose hope for having a news outlet of substance.